September 3, 2008

Since Gov. Sarah Palin was introduced, the media hype caused by her nomination will not stop until all these events have concluded after the November 4th election.

It is amazing how a young woman and a mother of five could really agree to be put on such an unrelentless spotlight. Her whole world has now been opened for the whole curious and biting world to see.

I would like to note here that while the Republicans would ferociously defend Sarah Palin’s executive experience, no one from the Republican party could state what the OBAMA campaign issued about what is going on with the media circus on Palin’s life.

“Families are OFF-LIMITS.” The tone from the Obama campaign when this was issued sounded noble, compassionate – and yes, let me add… very PRESIDENTIABLE. I was hoping the Republican Party would powerfully issue a statement like this. But they lost the chance.

Sarah Palin while a governor and a well-liked political figure in Alaska, is still a wife and a mother of a 17-year old pregnant daughter.

Families are off-limits. How I wished this came from John McCain.

And like millions of americans, I am looking forward to hearing her speech tomorrow, or tonight (wherever you may be in the planet)…. we need to hear from this woman whose meteoric rise to the VP pick seemed almost like a fairy tale, a HEROES-like episode of an active woman who suddenly discovered her powers to make it to the White House….

Gov. Sarah Palin looks like a good and credible leader for Alaska. But she still needs to the general voting population that she can actually do the VP job.

A lot of things have been said about EXECUTIVE experiences regarding these candidates, and that Sarah Palin has more executive experiences than Obama and Biden combined.

Well the Republicans could argue all of these things until the cows come home – but they really delivered a brilliant stroke when Senator Fred Thompson got up and gave the convention the RED MEAT they have been waiting to hear.

He said something about experiences – but he highlighted the great idea that what the US needs is a PRESIDENT with a character stemming from a good heart.

I could not agree more.

In leadership circles today, a lot of things have been said about experiences, training, personalities, networking, cross-cultural or foreign policy experiences. But what needs to be addressed as well is the fact that no country, no organization, no entity could go any significant distance without the bedrock foundation of the person’s character.

Who the person is and what is inside his /her heart seem to be a critically ignored question as we focus on the Presidential elections.

Leadership is crucial. Executive experience is crucial. Knowledge on Foreign policy is important and a clear grasp of what the people need and how to sustain the economic growth will really matter.

But in the end, what is in the heart will still determine the small and almost invisible steps that these leaders would make as they dispense their executive powers.

We serve, we minister out of our BEING. Focus on the BEING part first. Focus on the nature of one’s personhood first. Without that, the DOING part could become hollow, superficial and worse, dangerous to oneself, family, community and yes, to the whole nation.

September 1, 2008

I was one of those who watched till the wee hours in the morning (here in the Philippines) when John McCain presented his VP pick on his 72th birthday.

Gov. Sarah Palin of Alaska stepped out into the podium looking really radiant along with her husband and beautiful daughters. How the one year old baby was still asleep despite all the noise and cheering in that Republican venue was a great wonder to me.

I was one of those asking “what in the world????!” and got really interested in how these presidential candidates choose their VP pick. I could only imagine all the underground work that went into the selection.

So far, I already like Palin despite the light resume. I liked what I heard about what she did in Alaska. The highest ranking or most liked governor in the United States right now. And with five kids, wow, that is almost superhuman.

But despite how the Republicans would hardsell Palin and even go as far as saying that “Palin has more executive experience than Obama-Biden combined…” And somehow, it seems that the Republican virtually handed the electoral college and all those battleground states with the events that just unfolded. Contrast that to the pomp, electifying visual images, sounds and grandeur of the recent DNC. The Republicans I feel, made it easier for the Democrats to win this election.

Palin was obviously a good “maverick” and a go getter. She sounded like a person who gets things done. Her speech did not sound like any traditional politicians. Just basically a person who communicated that she is ready to be part of this team ready to get things done.

I like her. But I must admit, I am not too sure about the McCain-Palin ticket right now. I was hoping it would be Huckabee, Romney and then Arnold! ( hey why not! )

Too bad the RNC may have to be rescheduled because Gustav is coming.

But like everyone, I am looking forward to the debates. Funny, there will be 3 presidential debates and 1 VP debate. I will be more interested in the gladiatorial showdown between Biden and Palin.

August 27, 2008

Remarks of New York Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, for her address to the Democratic National Convention on Tuesday night in Denver:

I am honored to be here tonight. A proud mother. A proud Democrat. A proud American. And a proud supporter of Barack Obama.

My friends, it is time to take back the country we love.

Whether you voted for me, or voted for Barack, the time is now to unite as a single party with a single purpose. We are on the same team, and none of us can sit on the sidelines.

This is a fight for the future. And it’s a fight we must win.

I haven’t spent the past 35 years in the trenches advocating for children, campaigning for universal health care, helping parents balance work and family, and fighting for women’s rights at home and around the world … to see another Republican in the White House squander the promise of our country and the hopes of our people.

And you haven’t worked so hard over the last 18 months, or endured the last eight years, to suffer through more failed leadership.

No way. No how. No McCain.

Barack Obama is my candidate. And he must be our president.

Tonight we need to remember what a presidential election is really about. When the polls have closed, and the ads are finally off the air, it comes down to you — the American people, your lives, and your children’s futures.

For me, it’s been a privilege to meet you in your homes, your workplaces, and your communities. Your stories reminded me everyday that America’s greatness is bound up in the lives of the American people — your hard work, your devotion to duty, your love for your children, and your determination to keep going, often in the face of enormous obstacles.

You taught me so much, you made me laugh, and … you even made me cry. You allowed me to become part of your lives. And you became part of mine.

I will always remember the single mom who had adopted two kids with autism, didn’t have health insurance and discovered she had cancer. But she greeted me with her bald head painted with my name on it and asked me to fight for health care.

I will always remember the young man in a Marine Corps T-shirt who waited months for medical care and said to me: “Take care of my buddies; a lot of them are still over there … and then will you please help take care of me?”

I will always remember the boy who told me his mom worked for the minimum wage and that her employer had cut her hours. He said he just didn’t know what his family was going to do.

I will always be grateful to everyone from all fifty states, Puerto Rico and the territories, who joined our campaign on behalf of all those people left out and left behind by the Bush Administration.

Along the way, America lost two great Democratic champions who would have been here with us tonight. One of our finest young leaders, Arkansas Democratic Party Chair, Bill Gwatney, who believed with all his heart that America and the South could be and should be Democratic from top to bottom.

And Congresswoman Stephanie Tubbs Jones, a dear friend to many of us, a loving mother and courageous leader who never gave up her quest to make America fairer and smarter, stronger and better. Steadfast in her beliefs, a fighter of uncommon grace, she was an inspiration to me and to us all.

Our heart goes out to Stephanie’s son, Mervyn, Jr., and Bill’s wife, Rebecca, who traveled to Denver to join us at our convention.

Bill and Stephanie knew that after eight years of George Bush, people are hurting at home, and our standing has eroded around the world. We have a lot of work ahead.

Jobs lost, houses gone, falling wages, rising prices. The Supreme Court in a right-wing headlock and our government in partisan gridlock. The biggest deficit in our nation’s history. Money borrowed from the Chinese to buy oil from the Saudis.

Putin and Georgia, Iraq and Iran.

I ran for president to renew the promise of America. To rebuild the middle class and sustain the American Dream, to provide the opportunity to work hard and have that work rewarded, to save for college, a home and retirement, to afford the gas and groceries and still have a little left over each month.

To promote a clean energy economy that will create millions of green collar jobs.

To create a health care system that is universal, high quality, and affordable so that parents no longer have to choose between care for themselves or their children or be stuck in dead end jobs simply to keep their insurance.

To create a world class education system and make college affordable again.

To fight for an America defined by deep and meaningful equality — from civil rights to labor rights, from women’s rights to gay rights, from ending discrimination to promoting unionization to providing help for the most important job there is: caring for our families. To help every child live up to his or her God-given potential.

To make America once again a nation of immigrants and a nation of laws.

To bring fiscal sanity back to Washington and make our government an instrument of the public good, not of private plunder.

To restore America’s standing in the world, to end the war in Iraq, bring our troops home and honor their service by caring for our veterans.

And to join with our allies to confront our shared challenges, from poverty and genocide to terrorism and global warming.

Most of all, I ran to stand up for all those who have been invisible to their government for eight long years.

Those are the reasons I ran for president. Those are the reasons I support Barack Obama. And those are the reasons you should too.

I want you to ask yourselves: Were you in this campaign just for me? Or were you in it for that young Marine and others like him? Were you in it for that mom struggling with cancer while raising her kids? Were you in it for that boy and his mom surviving on the minimum wage? Were you in it for all the people in this country who feel invisible?

We need leaders once again who can tap into that special blend of American confidence and optimism that has enabled generations before us to meet our toughest challenges. Leaders who can help us show ourselves and the world that with our ingenuity, creativity, and innovative spirit, there are no limits to what is possible in America.

This won’t be easy. Progress never is. But it will be impossible if we don’t fight to put a Democrat in the White House.

We need to elect Barack Obama because we need a President who understands that America can’t compete in a global economy by padding the pockets of energy speculators, while ignoring the workers whose jobs have been shipped overseas. We need a president who understands that we can’t solve the problems of global warming by giving windfall profits to the oil companies while ignoring opportunities to invest in new technologies that will build a green economy.

We need a President who understands that the genius of America has always depended on the strength and vitality of the middle class.

Barack Obama began his career fighting for workers displaced by the global economy. He built his campaign on a fundamental belief that change in this country must start from the ground up, not the top down. He knows government must be about “We the people” not “We the favored few.”

And when Barack Obama is in the White House, he’ll revitalize our economy, defend the working people of America, and meet the global challenges of our time. Democrats know how to do this. As I recall, President Clinton and the Democrats did it before. And President Obama and the Democrats will do it again.

He’ll transform our energy agenda by creating millions of green jobs and building a new, clean energy future. He’ll make sure that middle class families get the tax relief they deserve. And I can’t wait to watch Barack Obama sign a health care plan into law that covers every single American.

Barack Obama will end the war in Iraq responsibly and bring our troops home _a first step to repairing our alliances around the world.

And he will have with him a terrific partner in Michelle Obama. Anyone who saw Michelle’s speech last night knows she will be a great first lady for America.

Americans are also fortunate that Joe Biden will be at Barack Obama’s side. He is a strong leader and a good man. He understands both the economic stresses here at home and the strategic challenges abroad. He is pragmatic, tough, and wise. And, of course, Joe will be supported by his wonderful wife, Jill.

More of a government where the privileged come first … and everyone else comes last.

John McCain says the economy is fundamentally sound. John McCain doesn’t think that 47 million people without health insurance is a crisis. John McCain wants to privatize Social Security. And in 2008, he still thinks it’s OK when women don’t earn equal pay for equal work.

With an agenda like that, it makes sense that George Bush and John McCain will be together next week in the Twin Cities. Because these days they’re awfully hard to tell apart.

America is still around after 232 years because we have risen to the challenge of every new time, changing to be faithful to our values of equal opportunity for all and the common good.

And I know what that can mean for every man, woman, and child in America. I’m a United States senator because in 1848 a group of courageous women and a few brave men gathered in Seneca Falls, New York, many traveling for days and nights, to participate in the first convention on women’s rights in our history.

And so dawned a struggle for the right to vote that would last 72 years, handed down by mother to daughter to granddaughter — and a few sons and grandsons along the way.

These women and men looked into their daughters’ eyes, imagined a fairer and freer world, and found the strength to fight. To rally and picket. To endure ridicule and harassment. To brave violence and jail.

And after so many decades — 88 years ago on this very day — the 19th amendment guaranteeing women the right to vote would be forever enshrined in our Constitution.

My mother was born before women could vote. But in this election my daughter got to vote for her mother for president.

This is the story of America. Of women and men who defy the odds and never give up.

How do we give this country back to them?

By following the example of a brave New Yorker, a woman who risked her life to shepherd slaves along the Underground Railroad.

And on that path to freedom, Harriet Tubman had one piece of advice.

If you hear the dogs, keep going.

If you see the torches in the woods, keep going.

If they’re shouting after you, keep going.

Don’t ever stop. Keep going.

If you want a taste of freedom, keep going.

Even in the darkest of moments, ordinary Americans have found the faith to keep going.

I’ve seen it in you. I’ve seen it in our teachers and firefighters, nurses and police officers, small business owners and union workers, the men and women of our military — you always keep going.

We are Americans. We’re not big on quitting.

But remember, before we can keep going, we have to get going by electing Barack Obama president.

We don’t have a moment to lose or a vote to spare.

Nothing less than the fate of our nation and the future of our children hang in the balance.

I want you to think about your children and grandchildren come election day. And think about the choices your parents and grandparents made that had such a big impact on your life and on the life of our nation.

We’ve got to ensure that the choice we make in this election honors the sacrifices of all who came before us, and will fill the lives of our children with possibility and hope.

That is our duty, to build that bright future, and to teach our children that in America there is no chasm too deep, no barrier too great — and no ceiling too high — for all who work hard, never back down, always keep going, have faith in God, in our country, and in each other.

August 27, 2008

Grateful for their loyal support

The much anticipated speech by Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton deeply impressed me. Sure it was all about politics and some people might argue that she was just being a good politician. But setting aside the natural cynic in all of us, I was riveted to CNN trying to capture the pathos and ethos of the moment. The camera loved her. Clinton delivered, not only that, Clinton delivered hope.

Here I was, more than 12,000 miles away – watching her and I was feeling more hopeful. Here was a lady who through the past several months had been through some of the most grueling and horrendous media exposure during the primaries. And she was, powerfully delivering what seemed to me a STATE OF A HOPEFUL NATION address.

Poignant words about “did you do this just for me?”

18 millions votes

I wish many of the political names in this country would just ask that question. In the US, you hardly hear of a Democrat becoming a Republican and vice-versa. But in this country, anyone can change colors, ideologies and cross multiple party-lines and re-cross multiply party lines because “IT IS JUST FOR ME…”

The Philippines has a lot of maturing to do in terms of politics and governance. We have seen our political candidates bicker and fight – and once elected, remain enemies, or if favorable to their advantage, would switch allegiance in a heartbeat.

Clinton telling her 18 million supporters to support Obama was almost a picture of utopia. When candidates can come together and forget even the nastiest remarks and be united for the common cause. I know that there are many people out there who would just tell me that this is just a big political show.

But there I was – soaking all her words. Loving Clinton and expressing my deep regret that she was not even considered for the Vice-Presidential position.

When her speech ended, I realized one thing. She did a wonderful job in endorsing Obama. But she did a superlative job in endorsing herself. History will vindicate her and look back at what she did at the DNC 2008 and realize that it was her finest hour.

She offered hope, and hope when powerfully lived out, will give rise to many more hopeful hearts. I am not even an american but Clinton inspired hope in me.